


Beauty for Beauty's Sake

by lalejandra



Category: lotrips
Genre: Beauty - Freeform, Character Study, Gen, Transformative Works Welcome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-09-16
Updated: 2004-09-16
Packaged: 2019-07-14 10:12:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16038341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lalejandra/pseuds/lalejandra





	Beauty for Beauty's Sake

Elijah knows better than to be suckered in by beauty. Beauty is totally meaningless, except for how it's beauty, and that makes it beautiful. Once Elijah was watching one of his early movies (North, to be honest), and he was cringing, and his mother said, "Art is its own reward," and Elijah figures that beauty is kind of like that, too. Beauty is its own reward. What else is it good for?

Beauty isn't divinity and it isn't goodness and it isn't an Oscar and it isn't a million dollars -- although it can get the last two. Beauty isn't anything except sometimes something Elijah wishes he had, especially when he's standing between Liv Tyler and Orlando Bloom, feeling short and fat and plain.

There's nothing particularly special about Orli's curls or Liv's long, straight hair. There's nothing beautiful about the way Elijah can count their ribs and see the play of tendons underneath their skin. Even avoiding the sun as much as possible, Orli has to wear heavy white makeup to pale him down -- there's nothing beautiful about that, or about the olive skin Legolas doesn't have. There's nothing beautiful about Liv's wide red mouth or cream-colored skin.

But somehow the pieces become beautiful when they're put together, and somehow Elijah is way more affected by Orli's beauty than he is by Liv's. Liv is like a sister, like Hannah, like a brother, like Dom. Orli is something else, some kind of -- yes, some kind of angel.

Except Elijah knows better, he does. He knows that beauty doesn't mean you don't bleed and it doesn't keep your beer colder and it doesn't even make it easier to pull, because Dom goes home with way more girls than Orli does. Except Dom uses the girls so he doesn't have to look at Billy - Elijah's not supposed to know that, but everyone knows that - whereas Orli really. Really does like girls. Which is fine, good for him, great!

But Elijah wishes he didn't, because there would be nothing Elijah would like more than to swing himself onto Orli's lap and bite at his sharp mouth while they're still in the bar, to not have to wait to see if Orli pulled - a barmaid or one of the makeup girls or just some local - or if Orli would give up early enough in the evening for Elijah to invite him in and let Orli fuck him, or if Orli would wait until it was too late and Elijah would be sent home with just a long kiss and a handjob. Kissing boys isn't anything like kissing girls, even though he told Hannah one night that it was the same thing. But you can't tell your sister the truth, not ever -- well, Elijah can't tell his sister the truth, although Hannah's pretty insistent that Jack and Kelly have no secrets.

Elijah is totally dubious, but it's okay. He told Hannah it was the same and Hannah said she might try to kiss a girl anyway. Elijah suggested Hannah kiss Avril Levigne, because it would be funny and scandalous and Elijah kind of likes her music despite himself -- and so does Billy, who thinks she's postmodern, because she's aware that she's kind of stupid and annoying and a loser teenager, and Billy can respect that. Hannah would probably definitely try to kiss Avril Levigne now, just to impress Billy, and _Elijah_ can respect _that_ , because sometimes Elijah does things just to impress Billy. Billy is totally the kind of guy who people do things for just because they want his attention, the kind of guy people would follow around blindfolded and handcuffed. And maybe people do, but Elijah wouldn't know, because Billy never tells, and the one time Elijah got up the courage to ask - bolstered by too much beer and too much weed - Billy turned him down. Nice and easy, but still turned him down.

Not because Elijah isn't beautiful, but because Billy - well, who knows what Billy was thinking? Elijah kind of wished he did, because what did Billy see - or not see - in him?

But Billy's not like Orli, not filled and overflowing with beauty, not some kind of classical statue. Billy is icy, like a Slurpee swallowed too fast on a hot day, like pressing a finger to frost on a windowpane and feeling it burn and burn and burn until finally there's a layer of skin left on the glass -- but the finger still feels like it's burning.

Orlando is slow but frenetic, like the best kind -- no. That's Dom, a frantic guitar solo. Orli is something else, something Elijah hasn't quite figured out yet. But yeah, frenetic, definitely, and crazy, and insane, but totally overflowing.

His beauty isn't good for anything, but Elijah likes to look at him and Orli likes to be looked at, likes to have his tattoo traced with tongue, likes to let Elijah get on his knees in the dark bathrooms of pubs, lets Elijah's sweaty hand into his jeans in the backseats of cabs, lets his sharp teeth nip Elijah's neck when Elijah is unsuspecting -- and that's a start. Orli for Orli's sake. Orli for Elijah's sake, that is.

It's not like he's divinity and it's not like Elijah needs saving, but kissing boys isn't the same at all as kissing girls, because boys smell sharp and sweaty and their fingers are twisty and they never wait to see if what they're doing hurts, they just push forward and take what they want, and it doesn't matter that Elijah's not beautiful.

  



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